Best way to power LED strip (180 LEDs)

Question

I'm assembling this addressable RGBW LED strip setup that is 3m long and 60 LEDs/m. I have found no answer to my two questions on other sites or youtube.

(This is the strip I'm using: https://www.adafruit.com/product/2842?length=3) (5VDC, SK6812)

Every LED draws 80 mA on full brightness. Therefore (80*60*3) the maximum draw of the strip would be 14.4A. I'm definitely not gonna use that much as it has dedicated white LEDs, so let's say that I'll be using 10.8A (60*60*3).

1.) If I hooked everything up like this picture shows:

Wouldn't the roughly 11A from the power supply fry the arduino? And can the strip's leads really handle 11 amps?

2.) How would you suggest that someone set this up? I want to be able to run both the arduino and the strip off of the same power supply.

Answer 1

There are a few useful guides on the Adafruit website about powering these strips, including this one showing the addition of power taps.

The flexible pcb won't handle the current of a long chain fed from a single end without excessive drop in voltage to the far end (if not burning out the traces at the start end competely) and causes color changes along the chain, so you need to connect taps in every meter or so with heavier wires in parallel so that each LED is no more than half a meter away from a tap held close to the nominal supply voltage.

If the current draw is too much for a single supply, you can break the 5V supply every so far, and power each section from a different supply . In any case, the only current flowing to the Arduino is its own supply current.

Answer 2

Assuming the pin with the 330Ω resistor is data, (be sure to explicitly label all used pins in a diagram in text large enough read), then the current flowing through the LEDs does not flow through the Arduino.

The power to the LEDs will come from your mysterious power supply (not shown or described), at the bottom of your diagram. Out one end, in the other.

The data pin is what controls the LEDs, but is strictly for data. The current seen on that line may very well be less than 1mA, depending on several factors. The control circuitry in the LED strip "reads" the data and then opens/closes the power circuit to the LEDs.

The strips "leads" should be able to handle 10A if they are soldered to, perhaps not if they are simply "clamped". The Adafruit link for that strip says they sell a 10A supply that will power 4 meters of that strip..."Depending on use".

Aside from your question, I would be careful putting more than 10A on a 2.1mm jack. Some "name brands" are rated for about 10, but cheap ones may melt. Be sure to use thick wire too.